


the sweetest

by lexiconartist



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, heechaehyun are seniors, hyewon one shot but it's seventy percent 00line shenanigans, neighborhood easter tradition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 12:39:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19229329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lexiconartist/pseuds/lexiconartist
Summary: “I’ve never seen her talk to anyone at school—in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile? She gives off strong ‘don’t talk to me I don’t give a fuck’ vibes. One time she looked at me and I almost peed my pants. I don’t know, all I’m saying is I can’t really picture her anywhere near children.”(or; Heejin is on thin ice, Hyunjin is valid, Hyejoo is the quiet edgy-looking skater, and Chaewon may or may not have some feelings about it all.)





	the sweetest

Chaewon, Hyunjin, and Heejin were:

  * your local childhood best friend fiends
  * neighbors by chance blood-pact bonded by choice
  * members of the notorious, somewhat heard of _heechaehyun_ group chat
  * hanging out at Chaewon’s house on a Saturday afternoon because technically Heejin was grounded and Hyunjin and Chaewon’s houses were deemed an extension of the Jeon’s



They usually took turns hosting hang-outs but Heejin had said something about wanting to be "as far as possible from this prison" and Chaewon lived around the corner while Hyunjin was Heejin's next door neighbor. Really, it had only been four days of house arrest but they never ended up going out on the weekends anyway so Hyunjin and Chaewon didn't say anything about the dramatics.

Alas, they were: lounging in the living room with the windows open. Chaewon was so relaxed she was close to falling asleep. She probably would’ve too, if Heejin hadn’t interrupted the silence.

“What do you think is gonna happen tomorrow, now that Old Man Son kicked the bucket?”

Chaewon slipped her hair tie off her wrist, held one end and pulled the other back, effectively catapulting it to hit Heejin’s forehead. It ended up closer to her temple, but Chaewon was impressed with herself nonetheless.

“Have some respect, dumbass, he died like two months ago,” Hyunjin muttered, not looking up from her phone.

Heejin clutched her head (the incorrect side, Chaewon would like it to be noted that Jeon Heejin was clutching the _wrong side_ ) and whined.

“I _know_. I miss him, just like everybody else. Some of us have off-putting coping mechanisms, _Chunjin_.”

Chaewon sucked her lips against her teeth and cocked her head, _is that it, though?_

Hyunjin nudged Heejin’s shoulder with her foot.

Heejin sighed and planted her fists on her hips. Chaewon and Hyunjin were sat on the couch but Heejin had sprawled herself on the floor as soon as they’d settled in, so she had to look up when she batted her eyelids at them.

“Some of us have crude, maybe off-putting, reactions to death, _Chunjin_ , especially if the person dying was the highlight of a certain holiday for their entire childhood and a nice wholesome person in general.”

Chaewon slumped back onto the couch, intercepting the hair tie when Heejin slung it back at her. 

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Sounds about right.”

Mister Son, since a time before Chaewon-Heejin-Hyunjin, had upheld his tradition of waking up early on Easter morning to paint paw prints on everyone’s doorsteps. Every year and every house, without fail. 

Of course, as kids they didn’t _know_ it was Mister Son, for a long time it was _the bunny_.

Chaewon remembered the giddiness she felt waking up Easter morning, blasting down the stairs to open the door and point at the pastel prints that were _right there, Mom!_

Mister Son was a lovely old man and the world was a little dimmer without him in it. Thinking that tomorrow the kids living next door to Heejin and Hyunjin or a couple of doors down from Chaewon wouldn’t get to feel that excitement… it was a bummer to say the least. 

Hyunjin patted Chaewon’s legs where they were perched on her lap. The familiar sound of a skateboard rolling against the pavement wandered in through the windows. 

“Who knows,” said Hyunjin, tracking something outside that Chaewon couldn’t see from her position. “Maybe someone else will pick it up this year.”

A really unnecessary swarm of butterflies decided to erupt in Chaewon’s stomach then.

Heejin took a peek outside the window and snorted. “Hyejoo? Yeah, right.”

Like, half of the butterflies shriveled up at that. Chaewon, too, probably.

“Why ‘yeah, right’?” she said, going for indifference.

“I’ve never seen her talk to anyone at school—in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile? She gives off strong ‘don’t talk to me I don’t give a fuck’ vibes. One time she looked at me and I almost peed my pants. I don’t know, all I’m saying is I can’t really picture her anywhere near children.”

An embarrassing urge to defend Hyejoo came over Chaewon and, okay. Maybe she had a teenie crush on her despite only having interacted with Hyejoo twice outside of courteous neighbor greetings (both happened at school—one time Hyejoo helped her pick up books that she dropped and the other time was the entire year they sat next to each other in a class), but objectively Heejin’s statements were unfounded and objectively Chaewon liked to destroy Heejin so this conversation would be happening regardless.

“What about when _she_ was a kid?” Hyunjin asked, getting there before Chaewon but making a good point.

Heejin thought on this for a moment, leaning back against the front of the couch and steepling her fingers.

“Probably wasn’t ever a kid. I feel like she popped into existence when high school started.” She looked around conspiratorially, cupping her mouth to whisper, “ _A teenager_.”

“Man,” Chaewon groaned, dragging her palms down her face. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Oh?” Heejin said, touchy.

“So, you’ve never _met_ Hyejoo, but you’re assuming you know her based on what she looks like? Are you _literally_ judging a book by its cover? Like, what. She can’t be nice because she has resting bitch face? What about Hyunjin then?”

“What- hey, what _about_ me?” Hyunjin protested.

Heejin looked like Chaewon had just put a delicious meal in front of her.

“Hyunjin has resting _dead_ face, completely different.”

“ _Dead?_ ”

Chaewon bit back her grin. Damn. Heejin turned to Hyunjin with a terribly concerned look on her face. She placed a hand on Hyunjin’s knee and leaned in close.

“Haven’t you heard? That Kim girl has a terrible case of—”

“RDF!” Chaewon crowed. She couldn’t help but laugh, Heejin obviously very pleased and Hyunjin going through the stages of (a rather confusing) betrayal.

Heejin managed to get one high-five from Chaewon before Hyunjin started violently swinging cushions in her direction. With a war cry, they were both on the ground.

Chaewon was having a good time on the couch so that’s where she stayed. And that’s where she was when her stepsister Jungeun walked in from the gym.

Immediately, Heejin stopped to openly stare, looking like one of those big-eyed goldfish. Jungeun’s eyebrow jumped in question, then Hyunjin pounced on Heejin from behind and dragged her away in a headlock. 

Jungeun nodded at Chaewon.

“Hi, Chaewon.”

“Hey, Jungeun.”

“Hi, Hyunjin and Chaewon’s other friend.”

Hyunjin waved with the less important headlock arm, Heejin making an unintelligible gurgling sound from where she was being held.

Jungeun was out of the living room by the time Heejin managed to wrestle herself away from Hyunjin. She sprawled herself back onto the floor, stretching an arm out in Jungeun’s direction and gasping.

“Say my name, _coward_.”

Jungeun’s head popped back into view. 

“What was that?”

“Mmf,” Heejin squirmed, then in a really small voice said, “...hi, Jungeun.”

Jungeun just smiled and disappeared again, leaving Hyunjin and Chaewon to witness Heejin’s attempt to melt into the ground.

“Useless,” said Hyunjin.

“Pathetic,” said Chaewon.

She did her best to sneer, but she couldn’t really coordinate her mouth and nose how she wanted. Not that it mattered. Heejin’s face was one with the wood paneling.

“She’s so hot,” Heejin whined.

“Can you stop saying ‘Jungeun is hot’ to me like she’s not my literal family member?”

“When she stops being so hot, maybe.”

Chaewon wished, not for the first time, that someone somewhere would take away Jeon Heejin’s rights. 

“She already has two girlfriends, Heejin.” Hyunjin said.

“What?” Heejin propped herself up onto her elbows. “Who’s the second? When did that happen?”

“Does it matter?” Chaewon asked. “It’s not you.”

“Yes, it matters, Chaewon. If she wanted another girlfriend why _wasn’t_ it me? _Who’s the second?_ ”

Hyunjin threw a stray cushion at Heejin. “Jiwoo, fool.”

Heejin clutched the cushion to her chest and groaned, taking a second to bemoan the idea of having to eliminate Jinsol _and_ Jiwoo. In the middle of it, her expression ironed out. 

Too smooth, too quick. 

Whatever came next wasn’t going to be good.

“...Or.”

Chaewon saw Hyunjin take her shoe off, presumably for throwing.

“If Jungeun has two, who says she can’t have another? Of course, you both know how the old saying goes...”

Both shoes were off. Hyunjin’s baseball arms were killer. Was today the day Kim Hyunjin would do the world (mostly Park Chaewon) the favor of ending one Jeon Heejin? We watch on.

“Third time’s the charm,” said Heejin with her sleaziest, greasiest smile. 

Honestly, the line wasn’t extermination worthy and Hyunjin must’ve thought similarly because the shoe throws were pretty half-hearted, but it was the _knowing_ that burned Chaewon. She just _knew_ that Heejin hadn’t been discouraged from her Jungeun fixation, instead shifting that focus onto scheming her way into Jungeun’s relationship(s). In the end, Chaewon did not escape, she had just plunged into her next circle of hell. Damn Jeon Heejin.

“Please,” Chaewon said calmly, “give this a rest.”

“Why?” Heejin taunted. “Does hearing about my romantic endeavours remind you of how abysmal yours are going?”

Hyunjin blinked at them as she retrieved her shoes.

“That’s funny, I didn’t know ‘whining from afar’ counted as a romantic endeavour. And what do you mean—’how mine are going’?”

“Come on,” Heejin dawdled. “The fish.”

Hyejoo was a junior, thank you very much.

“Who?” Chaewon feigned ignorance. 

Wrong move.

Heejin sucked in a big breath and started yelling.

“YOU KNOW, THE SKATER THAT LIVES ACROSS THE STREET—”

Chaewon stood on the couch, quickly catapulting her hair tie at Heejin (another face shot, nice).

“—LOOKS LIKE SHE CAN KILL YOU AND PROBABLY WILL—”

She rolled her shoulders and made a show of making a rectangle with her fingers to plan her trajectory from the couch to Heejin’s, say, stomach, maybe?

“This is what you get for having zero sense of self-preservation,” Hyunjin said from where she was standing off to the side.

“—KNOWN NAME SON HYEJ—”

Chaewon jumped.

“OOF.”

❧

The next morning, Chaewon woke up and stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling. It was early, the sun barely peeking in through her window. Chaewon wondered why exactly she woke up before noticing the goosebumps on her arms and all her blankets on the floor.

Classic.

Everything was quiet and she’s always had a hard time going back to sleep after waking up, especially cold, so she got out of bed.

Chaewon headed down the stairs without thinking, brain still catching up with her feet. It wasn’t until she was at her front door that she realized what she was doing. She hadn’t opened the door looking for bunny prints in years, but talking about Mister Son yesterday must have brought those memories to the forefront of her mind.

She shook her head, a bitter feeling in her chest. Sure, the day didn’t mean what it once did for her, but Chaewon wasn’t sure she could stand to see the plain concrete of her doorsteps just yet. Instead, she opted to start a pot of coffee for everyone. She grabbed her favorite mug, one Heejin made years ago where a cut-out of Hyunjin’s face was superimposed onto a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.

A _heh_ escaped her as she remembered Heejin’s face on her descent and how hard Hyunjin had laughed at ‘Hyejoof’. 

“Goofs,” Chaewon muttered to herself, rubbing the bruise she got on her elbow when she hit the coffee table in the tussle that followed her landing.

A _beep_ later and fresh cup of coffee in hand, she patted her waistband for her phone. It wasn’t on her, most likely left upstairs in her undone bed.

Outside, an abrupt clattering startled her. Chaewon squinted suspiciously at the door. Maybe it was an animal? 

Quieter sounds followed.

She tried one of the living room windows, but it didn’t quite allow a view of the front door from the outside. Before she could think better of it she set down her mug, walked right up to the entrance, and opened the door. 

A figure was hunched over mere feet away from her.

“What the fuck,” she jumped, ready to reach for the nearest object and start swinging. (The nearest object happened to be Jungeun’s heavily key-occupied lanyard which resembled a modern day morning star, so, not the worst weapon.)

It was a can of paint that gave Chaewon pause and the skateboard that had her hand dropping down to her side.

Hyejoo peered up at her, paintbrush in hand and one earbud in. Her lips ( _her lips!!_ ) turned up just barely.

“Good morning. Not gonna hit me, are you?”

Chaewon flushed at that. What if she _had_ hit Hyejoo? Guaranteed head trauma, maybe some memory loss. Chaewon was no doctor but Jungeun kept that lanyard _stacked_. Hyejoo could’ve forgotten all about her. Did she even remember Chaewon _now_?

“Chaewon?”

Fuck, she did.

“Good morning. Hyejoo.” Chaewon tried to get it together. “Ah, no, but what…?”

This time she made herself process what she was seeing. On the concrete, below Hyejoo’s paintbrush was a pastel yellow circle, similar colors smeared on her hands and clothes. Chaewon could kind of hear the music blaring through Hyejoo’s earbuds, but otherwise the street was still asleep.

“Oh,” Chaewon said. She couldn’t help but smile at Hyejoo, fond.

Hyejoo ducked to clear her throat, then looked up again.

“You’re up early,” she said.

Chaewon leaned against the doorframe. “So are you.”

“Yeah, well,” Hyejoo gestured at the paw print she was painting and the cans behind her, “ _someone_ had to do this.”

“Had to.”

“Mhm.”

“I see,” said Chaewon.

Hyejoo nodded and got back to painting, completing the paw with smaller circles for the toes. She already had two others finished.

“He liked you, you know?”

Chaewon blinked. “Your grandfather?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t… we didn’t talk often.”

“Sure, but he said you always made sure to wave nice and big every time you saw him, even before you figured out he was behind this. He said you were sweet.”

“ _I’m_ sweet? What a compliment, coming from the King of Sweet himself,” Chaewon said.

She watched as Hyejoo closed the can of yellow and stood up. Her black Dickies were smattered with pastel purple, blue, pink, and yellow; it looked like art (she was art). Hyejoo absentmindedly dusted them off.

“Heh,” she breathed. “He wasn’t wrong though.”

Chaewon clasped her hands together, _this_ close to breaking into a sweat.

“Oh? And how do you know?”

Was that a smirk? What the hell was going on.

“If you let me take you out on a date, I’ll make my case at the end of it.”

Son Hyejoo, skater that lived across the street, Chaewon’s long time crush from a distance, a whole _junior_ , had no business being that damn smooth.

Chaewon flushed again, wiping her hands on her pajama pants.

Her pajama pants.

“So?” Hyejoo asked, interrupting Chaewon’s train of thought before it got out of hand. She was cool about it, if Chaewon ignored how she was wringing the life out of her paintbrush. Admittedly, she felt a little better knowing she wasn’t the only one going through it™.

“I’d like that. A lot. Yes,” said Chaewon. 

Did Hyejoo _need_ three affirmative responses? Maybe not but now she had them for future reference.

She smiled. “Good. Cool. I’ll come by later and we can figure out the details, I need to run though,” she nudged a paint can with her foot, “finish up.”

Chaewon nodded and Hyejoo picked up the other cans. She kicked her board so it flipped up into her hand and turned away quickly when she caught Chaewon still looking at her.

“Later,” she said.

“ _Later_ ,” echoed Chaewon.

Hyejoo skated away, careful to not let Chaewon see her face again. _(Son Hyejoo didn’t blush, thank you.)_

Chaewon stared at the paw prints on her doorstep for a little longer before she just about slammed her door shut and bolted up the stairs. 

She had to update _heechaehyun_ immediately.

 

❧

 

_**heechaehyun** _

**Chae [7:26AM]**  
gdjakdnfk  
guess who just got asked out on a date :^)

**hyunjin [8:30AM]**  
was it….

**Chae [8:31AM]**  
hyejoo!!! eee  
*@^#%)!&)

**hyunjin [8:31AM]**  
HYEJOOF?  
ASGIAG

**scum [11:17AM]**  
cant bee leeave you got ur girl b4 i got at least one of mine  
hyunjin pls

**Author's Note:**

> the two other fics I was working on before I started this are disappointed _but_ surprised. (hopefully will finish those up with some grinding hehe.) I would link the tumblr post that inspired this but I lost it djgkhak ig if you've seen it you'd know.
> 
> I'm v happy to contribute to the loona tag, orbits... we will meet again ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> comments make my day! ty for reading! 
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/itsmclovinbot) & [cc](https://curiouscat.me/lexiconartist)


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